Aunn Zara ~ Episode 8 Review

Zubaida Apa, if you haven’t heard this as yet, let me break it to you gently – MOVE OVER! There is a new totka specialist in town! Surprised? Puzzled? Don’t know who I’m talking about? No worries, let me introduce you …

Yes! After last week’s hit and miss installment Aunn Zara is back with a bang! While I still think the lead pair’s stalled marital life needs a serious dhaka, there is something so lovable about this serial that one cannot help but be charmed. And topping the long list of charmers, Osman and Mukarram are phenomenal together. The sincerity with which Mukarram delivers his utterly nonsensical lines, and Osman murders one classic song after another, has to be seen to be believed. Too often we see beautifully written characters die a slow painful death on screen because they are not handled well, thankfully though this is not the case here. Faiza Iftikhar’s fabulous script takes on a whole new life under Haissam’s direction, and his actors then ably step in to take it up a notch further.

Today, I was laughing out loud as Manzar chomped away on his samosa, and without missing a beat transformed into Apa Zubaida and dished out a whole new round of more useless totkas. Not to be left behind, the seriousness with which Aunn auditioned with Sheila ki jawani, and then his crestfallen expression, when Manzar was unimpressed with his less than stellar taste in music, Osman was too good! Also loved his expressions as Aunn mentally dispatched every living breathing member of his family to the farthest corners of the universe.

Bechara Aunn! All he wants to do is to take Zara’s hand and have her sing him a modern song… not like he’s asking for the sun, moon and stars, but somehow this masoomana khwahish of his is turning into a near impossible task. Never mind that he is married to the woman with whom he wants to chal chaliye duniya de uday nukre jithey banda na bandey di zaat hoye…. but alas! If daadi and ammi and phuppo and chaachi all were to have their say Zara would have already been well on her way to becoming a mother. Meanwhile Aunn is left by himself to pout and toss and turn in his lonely bed. Seriously, how (un)lucky is this couple?! Na saas ka tension, na nand ka problem, no mazloom or mahkoom scene, no extra marital affair, no ex-boy/girlfriend ka chakar… no “real” problem… magar phir bhi… tension hi tension. Aunn, bhaijan, I think you need to ditch Manzar and his totkas asap, borrow that white steed from your cousin Prince Charming, find Zara and ride off into the sunset with her. Otherwise tau tumhari daal yahan galti nahin dikhayee deti!

What makes Aunn Zara a great watch is that it does not cater to a particular section of the audience. There is, therefore, a love story here for those looking for a lighthearted filmy romance, but then there are also plenty of social messages embedded within the text for those who like to watch issue-based, gharelu masley masai’l waley dramey. In this particular episode, we got yet another tantalizing glimpse at the heartache that Husna carries deep within herself. She might have willed herself to forget the unpleasant memories and pretend they never happened, but one stray reminder, one careless word, and all the buried pain rushes back to surface as if it had all happened just yesterday. Here, the bond between daadi and Husna was so sensitively handled that it brought a tear to my eye. At times daadi appears selfish in how she keeps Husna from telling the truth, the time is somehow never just right, but on the other hand, she is also Husna’s biggest supporter. The way she gets Husna to join in the family sing-song was so heartwarming. And now the youngest bahu is learning from her seniors, subconsciously picking up on their loving and caring ways. As Zara tells Shehna, she doesn’t even know how and when she changed – it just happened. Faiza deserves a huge round of applause for showing rather than preaching about how families are kept together, bonds formed, nurtured and strengthened. Nasreen Qureshi is just fabulous here.

From the senior saas to the newbie saas, Hina Bayat is Husna personified. Her kabhikhushi kabhi ghum expressions are ever so beautifully essayed, and then she also dances! Wah! and talking of dances, how can I forget Nighat’s naagin dance – Sabreen Hisbani was hilarious!! For now I think Manzar and Nighat are in a tight race for the most out there character in the serial.

For a simple si gharelu story, Haissam has managed to test quite a few boundaries, and I say more power to him! For a while now, dance, one of the most natural expressions of human emotion, has been relegated to the realm of vulgarity on our TV screens. This little scene was so aesthetically done and so pure in its intentions that I seriously doubt any thinking person would have the temerity to raise a hand and call it cheap or dirty.

And oh yes! I finally got my wish today as we saw Aunn trying to get through to Zara in places other than the bedroom. The scene with daadi on the charpai was hilarious, as was the one where Aunn was singing happily unaware that daadi was trying to pray in the next room. Yet elsewhere he was seen making puppy faces at Zara through the kitchen window. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that while I may have my peeves with it, Aunn Zara is pretty much the best serial on air these days.

Amazing review as always.. It’s such a great feeling that after a wonderful episode, we can look forward to an awesome review as well.. Double maza!

I definitely agree with you on Manzar. Seriously, the only remedy he could find was songs?? He needs to brush up his “love guru skills” or else he would be down the drain soon if he tries these “fazool” tactics on Shehna. Since she is not Aunn who will keep on “Baba jee, mujehy ap kai mashwaray ki zaroorat hai. Ap ki puhanch bohat door tak hai” attitude.. And i can’t wait for Shehna to give him a piece of her mind.. LOL!!

Aunn.. why are you soo innocent??? The way he was trying to get Zara all to himself was so sweet.. Love is “finally” in the air.. Zara has given her vote in his favor.. But still is reluctant in showing it to him. (Ab maan bhi jao)

I agree with you on the fact that this is no ordinary drama where we are bored to death with saas, nand mirch masalay and “mera shohar aik dosri larki mai interest lai raha, mai kia karun” gossip. Instead we enjoy a whole new side to marriage life that feels more realistic and relatable I must say..

I’m looking forward to how Zara takes on her saas- susar narazgi.. Jamshed sahab and Dada ji were greatly missed in this episode. Chacha on the other hand was spot on!!

I was actually laughing my head off on “Tumhay zameen pai bulaya gaya hai MERAY liyey”… A new side given to this song by Faiza.. Loving it!

Zara bechari kaise manay. She’d rather spend all day, playing with the girls, learning how to make palao, or playing ladoo with the lady clan of the house!

Its weird though, because you can tell she’s into him as well but doesn’t even try to express her feelings!!
its high time Aunn stop being such an innocent duck and stand up for his rights. These women have drove him nuts

I think Zara like Aunn cannot express her feelings. And she’s got no “Manzar” to help her get out of this shell.. lol!! So she’s passing her time, learning all the “gurs” of household.. 😀
Ah, i guess it would be the “golden day” for all Aunn lovers when he finally show his “mardangi” !

@Amna: Thanks … glad you enjoyed the review, bad poetry n all 😉 Indeed the songs, and the way Aunn put his own twist on them, were hilarious indeed! And LOL @Ash and @Amina: With you ladies on that, waiting for Aunn to finally put his foot down and get Zara’s attention.

This is my first comment on this site 😛
Loved this episode..
In fact after this episode it seemed that i went back to the 80’s and 90’s era of Haseena Moin’s dramas..no villian..everything is soooo positive..the characters are deep..this serial has all the ingredients that a Haseena Moin classic had..i was dissapointed with Faiza Iftilhar after Akbari Asghari and she has impressed me with this serial..i think its an honor for any writer to be compared to a writer like the legendary Haseena Moin and i think after this serial faiza iftikhar truly deserves this praise..hope she continues to write such good dramas 🙂
Sahi na SZ? 🙂

@Hina: Hi! Welcome … glad you stopped by and commented 🙂 I agree that AZ does bring back memories of older memorable dramas. Re comparisons to Haseena Moin, I personally think all writers have their own particular style so comparisons are not really fair. Also both writers are writing in very different times and face diffreent challenges . That said, indeed this one is shaping up to be a memorable serial .. lets hope it stays the course – fingers crossed!
Btw, did you see/like Bilqees Kaur? That was also by Faiza and I had enjoyed that one as well….

@Mukarram: Khair Mubarak .. Hope you had a fabulous Eid as well! Thank you for taking the time to read and comment, your generous words for my lame poetry are much appreciated 🙂 Thoroughly enjoying you as Manzar!

Haissam Hussain is King of Romance. The way he portrays romance between the lead couples is simply beautiful. Without resorting to cheesy dialogues or unecessary intimacy, he can extract great romance from his actors whether it is Dastaan, DeS or AZ.

Loved your review!! Analyzed the episode to perfection!!
These women are beyond crazy , its hilarious! And Zara fits right in! But i really wish they would let the two, Aunn and Zara breath for a second! give them some alone time..
They want her to have a baby before 9 months but never let them spend a second together. Dk how they expect that to happen.

Manzar is totally insane with his oh so brilliant ideas, that Aunn takes so seriously. He could’ve at least given him a better list of songs though.

Also, loved the dancing scene!

In all the craziness this drama has to offer, its so much fun to watch, especially the daadi. she has the funniest dialogues ever!!
But i feel bad for Aunn! No matter how much he tries, he gets nowhere. Bechara wait kar kar ke so hi gaya. =(

Eid Mubarik SZ.
This was a yet another hilarious episode.
Someone please tell Aunn to stop following Manzar’s advice & use his own brain. Did he not realize that the first list Manzar gave him were all item numbers sung by women? ha ha. My favourite was when he comes in the room, locks the door & starts singing “charti javani meri chaal mastani” LOL. I almost fell off my bed laughing at that scene. Come on! Did he really think a girl would be impressed by that song? What I find particularly endearing is that the entire family enters their room without taking permission.
Dadi is a riot, she has the best dialogues as well.
After being really annoying last week, Zara redeemed herself in this episode by confiding in Shehna that she is falling for Aunn as well.

@Mona: Eid Mubarak to you as well .. hope you had a fabulous weekend with your family and loved ones.
You know I was waiting for you to comment.. throughout as I was watching I kept thinking about your comments about Zara and wondered what you thought of her after this episode! LOL! Glad to know she did not offend you this week.. I was happier with her to this week .. but seriously Shehna needs to do more proactive advising..can’t wait to see what role Shehna plays in this love story … some dhaka needed here!

Manzar ur rockstar in giving such brilliant ideas and Aunn is one great example of how to blindly trust friends.. LOL.. the second song he sang from list ‘ piya tu ab to ajaa’ and i was like WHAT he is singing..poor zara must be thinking ye tou mujhe gana chahiyae :P… and dadi coming out and ahaa kya to aunn ke latte liye hahahahaah… loved it!

coming to second list of songs.. i was no at all expecting some decent songs and thankyou manzar for proving me right :D.. i liked how chachaji joined in singing and he has better voice than aunn 😛 pitty on our lovebirds for not getting time to spend…aunn was truly a cutie in giving those expressions while singing ‘tumhe banaya gaya he mere liye’ hehe..

i loveeed the dancing part so much.. it was done very nicely.. specially the hug dadi gave to husna was simply cherry on cake.. made me emotional 🙂 all conversations where dadi is involved are just classic, all thanks to dialogues and the way Nasreen ma’am delivers it..Fabulous!

that serious one to one between husna and dadi was heart touching..Hina Bayat can pull out any character so effortless.. this drama give you such pleasant feeling on how inlaws should be and its always a two-way attachment 🙂 thumps up for Faiza!!

@Rehmat: hahaha! So do you think I can have a backup career as a rickshaw/truck poetry writer??
LOL! Indeed that scene with daadi and Aunn was hilarious. I think daadi is my most favorite character here, then Aunn and Husna tied fior second place, followed closely by Manzar, his chichorapan is the true inspiration behind my poetry!

It is great to be back after a hiatus. I had badly missed reading your reviews and commenting on them!

but now as I am back, It really was a wonderful welcome ‘thing’ for me to see your ‘shayeri’ on the top of the page. i think I missed out on a lot! You are prefect MashaAllah!

Coming to Aun-Zara, I have missed a lot of episodes. As far as I can recall, the last one I had watched was the one in which they got married. I have a lot of catching-up to do:p but this review has given me the encouragement needed. I will try and watch them all in a go and come back with my thoughts soon. Hopefully!

Apart from Aun-Zara, nothing good is one air these days. Mediocre shows and that’s about it. I just miss those good-old days when there would be such a large number of appreciable shows played on prime-time slots on each channel that it would really be a ‘huge’ decision to choose which channel to tune-in to! Sigh!

@Heela: hey!!! “HUGS* Kidhar ghaib thi tum larki?? You were gone for so long ke I was beginning to worry about you … I hope everything was all good. How did your exams and stuff go? Clearly I missed you, so its great to have you back!!
Yes, you should def catch up on AZ, itsdef worth it and a great lighthearted entertainment.. Baqi you are absolutely right,… nothing must which is drop everything and watch… Do watch AZ and come back and share yor thoughts .. will look forward to reading your take on Aunn, Zara, Manzar, Daadi & Co.
Welcome back!

Ello! First time commenter, long time lurker – mostly of your older stuff, since I came <a href="in late….

I was od-ing on the older dramas and was going to take a break till I got a whiff of Aunn Zara and am back to catching up on all the earlier episodes. I’m totally lovin’ it – it has the mix of fun and frivolity a la the older dramas.

@amusingmuslim: Hey! Welcome … glad to have a silent friend take the plunge and join us 🙂 Yeh, plenty of good stuff out there… so what all have you been watching? Would to love to hear about some your faves .. we love discussing dramas .. naya purana no difference! 🙂

Hi SZ, Thanks for your note and apologies for my bad html-ing. It was post midnight when technically I am non-functional.

As for what I have been watching – I’m in marathon mania right now – have watched Tanhaiyain Naye Silsilay, Humsafar, Dastaan, and am currently on Shehr e Zaat. I’ll probably have to un-weave each of them separately in my head and then write out it. Though honestly probably not with your insightfulness.

@ amusingmuslim: Likewise! Glad to have you on board and hope that you’ll join us in our conversations on AZ . Btw, great catch on daadi and her leopard print scarf LOL!!! Going by all her rangeeli stories seems like daadi was quite the swinger apne zamaney main .. perhaps the scarf was a gift to her.. daada ji ke pyaar ki nishani! 😉

Aah you’ve been catching up on all the good stuff! If you get a chance also check out some other good ones: Bilqees Kaur, Jalpari, Mera Naseeb, Coke Kahani, and my personal fave Talkhiyan!

hey SZ! I know this is completely off-topic but are you planning to watch/review any of the upcoming drama serials? I watched the first episode of Mere Humrahi and almost fell out of my chair, laughing! It was a mixture of bad acting, horrible camera work, and a total of 4-5 long, long scenes in the entire episode. Not to mention they have given away the entire story in the promos. I hear this is the first drama serial from a production company found by Fahd Mustafa…

Wah wah wah !!!! SZ tussi chaa Gaye :))
After every episode you keep smiling for atleast 2 days , even if things go slow , even if it doesn’t makes sense , even if its hypothetical , it does the job perfectly of entertaining with out tension !! This episode belonged to Manzar and Aun’s play list :))))) it was truly hillarious .
This is the ONLY serial now days you want to watch and watch it again … Thank you team AZ ….

Lagta hai baadi hefty Eidi mili thi SZ, bohat zabardast shayeri bahar aaye hai. Hamay aap ke shayeri ki book release ka intezaar rahay ga. We would all want a personally autographed copy of it.
Last week’s episode didn’t do much for me. There were some laugh out loud moments like daadi entering when Aun is singing those horrible songs and Chacha ji belting out another horrible number 🙂 This week’s episode was much better with the gaaon visit and Zara running away from every opp. that Aun has to express his undying love for her (bechara!) Let’s see how the job interview pans out and more than that if Daadi and Phuppo will let Aun work!! Again Nasreen Q. and Hina B were impressive in their roles.

@Annie: LOL!!! Shayari ki kitaab aayegi zaroor, right after Aunn releases his debut album 😉
I agree the narrative had indeed been stalled for the past few weeks. I think the big factor that has saved the last couple of episode from being watched in the ffwd mode are the little moments, some which you mentioned above. These well-written, directed and acted vignettes are so entertaining ke they inspire the bakwas writer in me to do even more bakwas shairi 😉

Hello SZ and the DRR gang! I’ve been AWOL, life, Ramzaan and quite frankly absence of compelling dramas. Missed reading DRR, had a little bit to catch up on, but I think I’m mostly there. I missed the DDR bloggers and our convos, heated and otherwise, especially missed the ability to come in and share/enjoy the characters/actors. I must admit I am experiencing some FAK withdrawal 😉 But eagerly awaiting Numm!

I started and finished DeM, after it concluded – horrible ending, although I liked Sanam Jung.

I decided to catch up with Aunn Zara last week and I am LOVING it!!! Daadiji ki Panjabi to sar par say guzar jaatee hai, lekin I am thoroughly enjoying the drama. Very refreshing to have a light-hearted well-written drama that is equal parts comedy and family drama.

OKB is doing great, but I love Zara/Maya Ali. I love her role, her characterization and the energy Maya Ali brings to the character. I didn’t mind her nakhraa so much either. I think their nokh jhok is a result of miscommunication and bad timing. They both are intrigued by the other and want to build their relationship but fate just keeps interfering.

She’s not sure how to respond to her husband. I’m sure her fauji father didn’t nurture any princess tendencies which explains her tomboyish attitude – WHICH I LOVE!!! How refreshing to see a capable female who can fix things, ride a motorcycle and kill cockroaches instead of the typical naazuk, roti-dhoti larki!

As far as Zara not reciprocating feelings or making the effort to further the relationship – I think it is perfectly understandable. She is inexperienced and has had no female influence/wisdom in her life. Quite frankly, as awkward and annoying as it is in reality, she probably didn’t have a busybody khala/cousin/friend who filled her in on the intimacies of marriage and a relationship, so she has no idea how to react to Aunn’s advances. I know I am making some assumptions here, but even if she knows intellectually what a relationship should be like, she has no practical example or role model to follow. Yet through the various episodes, she was inwardly pleased with Aunn’s praise and attention. It’s the yo-yoing attitude of her husband – kabhi lift nahin karaana, kabhi ghussaa, kabhi iltifaat – ironically mostly because of misunderstandings.

Loving Hina Bayat!!! She is such a great actress! Her baa-mahaavara Urdu is a lot easier for me to understand compared to Daadijaan’s thait panjabi – but both HB and NQ are stellar together. I really like Nighat Phuppo too – Sabreen Hisbani is doing great here. I enjoy when mother and daughter go at it – Amma khaasaa sunaadayti hein beti ko!

@Nur: Hey!!! Welcome back 🙂 I have to say much as I hate summer ending, it is good to look forward to a routine again and have all of us come together once again, discussing our dramas ever so passionately… You are so right about this being a very dry season as far as dramas are concerned. Hopefully some of the new serials will manage to strike a chord and we’ll get some thought provoking stuff to chew on …
LOL! Did you actually sit through all of DeM? I tried so many times but that ghisi pitti story had me gnashing my teeth so much ke I had to give up!

Glad to know you got on board the AZ bandwagon 🙂 Your analysis is yet again beautifully written and spot on! Maya is a good fit for Zara, I can’t imagine any of other younger actresses being able to infuse all the energy in Zara’s character, but I do think she needs more experience. It will be interesting to see how she fares in KKC, where she is working with a director other than HH.
Looking forward to hearing more from you re: the “harmonium” episode 🙂

amazing review and the poetry, FANTABULOUS 😀 this was by far the most hilarious episode. OKB was so funny when he sand all that songs 😉 and husna’s dance was just amazing. loved the way they celeberated the wedding anniversary 🙂 I agree with you on the last part. Aunn Zara is definitely the best serial on air these days.